Five Things to Know About HIV Suppression

Posted by Gandhi Medicos on April 12th, 2021

HIV suppression refers to treating an infectious body by treating the virus with a regular dose of medication to prevent it from replicating itself in the body. However, most people don't know much about this deadly virus and how to stop it from spreading inside your body using HIV suppression. So, here are some things you should know about it:

1) The Virus becomes Undetectable

With the daily dose of medications administered by your doctor, the virus will become undetectable around six months after the HIV test. However, it won't leave your body. Most of the viral cells will not replicate but will still stay in your body. To get a completely risk-free body, you'll have to consult your doctor for at least six more months. If you stopped or forget to take your dose every day, the viral cells will again start multiplying and increasing in your body.

2) The Virus will not transmit

After the treatment, when the HIV cells are not detected in your body, the smaller ones are still there. However, they will not transmit into the body of another person through any mode. After you start taking a regular dose of the medications, the life-threatening disease will become treatable with constant medicines and consultancy from your doctor. This will protect the person who is HIV positive from dying and his/her sexual partner from getting the disease.

3) If you stopped taking the Medicine without Consulting

Continuing with the treatment for HIV suppression is necessary. If you forget to take your medicine at the given time, 1-2 hours of difference won't make any sudden changes in your body. However, if your body is recovering and you think that you don't need to take more medicine and stop intentionally, the time gap will make the viral cells more powerful and let them resist the medicine you are using to prevent them. This will cause you a problem because it will now multiply at a much faster speed, and the same dose of medicine won't stop it now from replicating, making any possible recovery in the future even harder.

4) Don't Worry about Viral Blips

Patients who take regular medications sometimes experience a larger number of HIV cells than normal in their body. Although scientists haven't found the main reason behind these blips, they are still researching and found that these blips are only for a few days, and the cells will become irreplaceable again as they were before after some time. Viral blips are common in HIV patients and shouldn't concern them very much since they are only there for a while and do not necessarily mean that the medicine has stopped working.

5) When to get tested after being infected

After you get infected and consult your doctor, he/she might ask you to get tested as soon as you can. Once your infection becomes positive, and your viral cells are detectable, the doctor will advise you to start taking the treatment quickly. After your treatment starts, the doctor will test your body after every 3-4 months to count the number of cells and when they become undetectable, although the continuous dose of the medication is necessary to live a healthy and infection-free life.